Benjamin Boison

Benjamin Boison is Director of the Centre for Learning and Teaching Innovation at Aurora College (NT) and is completing his Doctor of Philosophy in Education at Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN). 

Benjamin's postgraduate education at MUN began with a Master of Education in 2019. His prior studies include a PhD in Information Technology (2017) from Open University Malaysia, a Master of Education from the University of Rochester, and a Master of Information Technology (2011). Throughout his doctoral studies at MUN, he has served as a research coordinator, a graduate research and teaching assistant, a per-course instructor in the Faculty of Education, and a Learning Teaching Coach with the Centre for Innovation in Teaching and Learning (CITL). These roles have allowed him to lead and contribute to a range of technology and research initiatives, teaching projects, and peer-reviewed publications while working closely with faculty, administrative staff, and schools across Newfoundland and Labrador.

Beyond his formal roles at MUN, Benjamin has volunteered in various capacities, including the Faculty of Education's centennial celebration hosted at The Rooms. At Aurora College, he serves on the Academic Council and spent three years on the College's Research Ethics Committee, where he reviewed research applications across the Northwest Territories. His professional development includes leadership programs at the Saïd Business School (University of Oxford), the Rotman School of Management (University of Toronto), and the Northern Leadership Development Program at Aurora College. Together, his graduate studies, service, and professional learning reflect a sustained commitment to educational technology, curriculum, inclusive education, and online teaching and learning.

 His doctoral research at MUN examines how educators in Newfoundland and Labrador enacted culturally responsive teaching during the pandemic-era shift to online instruction. Specifically, he explores how teachers navigated tensions among institutional constraints, technological affordances, and their commitments to culturally sustaining pedagogy. His analysis sheds light on how adaptive teaching practices can address the needs and identities of diverse learners, inform inclusive online curricula, and support educational equity in regions facing infrastructural or historical barriers. This research has resulted in five peer-reviewed publications and multiple presentations at academic conferences and seminars.

At Aurora College, Benjamin collaborates with colleagues to ensure that emerging educational technologies and pedagogical approaches are shaped with Northern realities in mind. The College is the only English-language public post-secondary institution in the Northwest Territories, with three campuses serving 33 communities across 1.3 million square kilometres. Approximately 10% of the NWT adult population engages with the College annually, with the majority from Northern and remote communities. This context grounds Benjamin's research and practice in the distinctive opportunities and challenges of Northern education.

In addition to his doctoral research, Benjamin has co-authored more than 10 peer-reviewed publications (11 published, 1 in press, and 1 under review) with his supervisor, Dr. Anne Burke, since 2022. His research interests include culturally responsive online pedagogy, educator wellness during periods of rapid change, and family–school partnerships that bridge digital equity and cultural responsiveness. Their scholarship appears in journals such as the Journal of Early Childhood Literacy (SAGE), Computers in the Schools, and Reflective Practice (Taylor & Francis), as well as in edited volumes with Springer. Across this work, they examine how educators and institutions support agency, equity, and cultural responsiveness across physical and digitally mediated learning environments.

A recent highlight is Benjamin's acceptance into the SSHRC-AHRC AI Humanities Sandpit, a competitive interdisciplinary initiative that brings together humanities-led methods with technical development. Benjamin was among the top 7% of nearly 900 applicants selected to participate, an opportunity that will allow him to extend his work on cultural responsiveness into the AI domain.

Benjamin's doctoral research makes a significant contribution to understanding how educators sustain equitable, culturally responsive practice during periods of disruption and technological change. His findings offer practical and theoretical insights for educators, institutions, and policymakers seeking to design online learning environments that honour learner diversity. His selection for the SSHRC-AHRC AI Humanities Sandpit represents a natural extension of this work, exploring how emerging technologies can be developed to serve, rather than sideline, diverse communities.

 In addition to his doctoral research, Benjamin has co-authored more than 10 peer-reviewed publications with his supervisor, Dr. Anne Burke (9 published, 1 in press, and 1 under review) since 2021. His research interests include culturally responsive online pedagogy, educator wellness during periods of rapid change, and family–school partnerships that bridge digital equity and cultural responsiveness. Their scholarship appears in journals such as the Journal of Early Childhood Literacy (SAGE), Computers in the Schools, and Reflective Practice (Taylor & Francis), as well as in edited volumes with Springer. Across this work, they examine how educators and institutions support agency, equity, and cultural responsiveness across physical and digitally mediated learning environments.

Publications
2021

Burke, A., Boison, B., & Toope, D. (2021). Collaborative pedagogies: Seeking and finding truth with Indigenous Children’s literature through multiliteracies. In D. Hirshberg, M. Beaton, M. Maxwell, G. T. Turunen, & J. Peltokorpi (Eds.), Education, equity and inclusion: Teaching and learning in the sustainable North. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-97460-2_11

2024

Burke, A., Boison, B., Knopp, M., & Lawlor, A. (2024). Redesigning an environmental curriculum for student engagement. Connected Science Learning, 6, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1080/24758779.2023.2300499

Burke, A., Collier, D. R., & Boison, B. (2024). Children’s identity and agency in an art gallery: Voices in the making. In Children’s voice and agency in diverse settings (pp. 71–95). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003360995-7

2025

Boison, B., & Burke, A. (2025a). Bridging digital equity and cultural responsivity in elementary schools: The role of family-school partnerships. International Journal of Elementary Education, 14(1), 9–19. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijeedu.20251401.12

Boison, B., & Burke, A. (2025b). Building trust and recreating community in online classrooms through cultural responsivity. Canadian Journal of Educational and Social Studies, 5(1), 38–63. https://doi.org/10.53103/cjess.v5i1.291

Boison, B., & Burke, A. (2025c). Expanding culturally responsive teaching in online classrooms: The Cultural Responsivity Online Model. American Journal of Educational Research, 13(3), 126–138. https://doi.org/10.12691/education-13-3-4

Boison, B., & Burke, A. (2025d). Fostering cultural responsiveness online: Elementary educators’ experiences during the COVID-19 shift to online education. Computers in the Schools, 42(1), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/07380569.2025.2513241

Boison, B., & Burke, A. (2025e). Navigating emotional and professional challenges in remote teaching: Examining teacher well-being, burnout, and socio-emotional learning through the Job Demands-Resources Model. British Journal of Teacher Education and Pedagogy, 4(2), 15–27. https://al-kindipublishers.org/index.php/bjtep/article/view/8997

Burke, A., Bjøru, A., Boison, B., Bass, L., Riggs, J., Thorne, C., & Sharpe, S. (2025). Teaching sustainability and climate change in Canada and Norway. Education in the North, 32(3), 160–177. https://doi.org/10.26203/7zj5-s642

Burke, A., & Boison, B. (2025). Cartographies of voice: Children’s multimodal literacies, agency, and identity in public pedagogy. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 25(4), 1073–1093. https://doi.org/10.1177/14687984251380969

Burke, A., Collier, D. R., & Boison, B. (2025). Teachers’ shifting metaphors of practice. Reflective Practice, 26(4), 569–581. https://doi.org/10.1080/14623943.2025.2494308

In press

Burke, A., & Boison, B. (in press). Portraits of possibility: Voice, agency, and inspiration through children’s literature. In Linking Literacy and Life. Springer.

Under review

Burke, A., & Boison, B. (under review). Public engagement: Sharing educational resilient voices during the pandemic crisis in Newfoundland and Labrador. Journal of Newfoundland and Labrador Studies.